One Moment
by Sandra Phillips
Summary: One moment can pass so quickly - but at the same time, it can mean so much. Supposedly 100 one-shots. #22: "Hatori!" He almost turned at the broken cry behind him, almost ran back at the sound of quiet tears, almost broke down at the way she said his name.
1. Say Your Goodbyes

**Words:** 361

**Characters: **Momiji, Kagura

**Time: **Post-manga

**Genre: **Friendship, Romance

**Disclaimer: **Takaya Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"I didn't think you'd be the first one to leave."<p>

Momiji looked up as Kagura slid down the wall to sit next to him. He chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, well, I can only wear a mask for so long. I hate seeing him hold her hand as he takes her away from me."

Kagura was slightly surprised. "Momiji…" she started, but she didn't know what she wanted to say. The boy turned to her with a sad smile.

"It's okay," he said. "You don't need to comfort me."

_But your eyes are so sad,_ she thought. She remembered waving goodbye to Tohru and Kyo and feeling her heart sink into her stomach, and she completely understood how Momiji felt.

"I understand." She said, then started. She hadn't meant to say it out loud. She laughed. _I might as well finish what I've started._ "I've always liked him. I may have hated a small part of him, and covered it up with exaggerated feelings, but that small reservoir of love was still there."

"Isn't it horrible?" Momiji said, staring blankly in front of him, his arms curled around his legs. "It's so lonely to see the person you love with someone else."

"It worse when you know that the person you love is _happy_ with someone else," Kagura agreed. "I know that someday I'll be able to forgive her for stealing him, and maybe even him for falling for her. But right now it feels like there's a great big hole inside of me that nothing could cover up. I feel so… alone."

There were a few moments of silence as the two children sat with their backs to the wall and stared at the ground. Then Kagura jumped as Momiji reached over and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He gave her a small smile.

"You're not alone."

Kagura wanted to say something, but for some reason she couldn't speak. Momiji stood and walked away, his hands in the pockets of his jeans and his head bowed. After a moment, Kagura tipped her head forward and let her hair cover the grin and the blush spreading across her face.

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	2. Cover For Me

**Words: **455

**Characters: **Kageru, Yuki

**Time: **Anytime after Ch. 49

**Genre: **Friendship

**Disclaimer: **Takaya Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"I wonder if it's possible to rip off someone's head."<p>

Kageru looked up. "Wow, Yuki, that's violent. Who do you have in mind?"

Yuki paced across the Student Council room, seething, narrowly avoiding the desks and tables in his way. "The stupid ca… um, careless… idiot!"

Kageru laughed good-naturedly and pushed his papers aside so he could watch his friend. "And that would be…?"

"Kyo, of course! Why does he keep making her cry? Doesn't he know that he's the only one who can make her happy? I want to strangle him."

"I suppose we're talking about your mommy? And besides, I thought you wanted to rip off his head, not strangle him."

"Same difference. As long as he suffers."

Kageru stood up and stretched. "If you say so, Yun-Yun. If you want to hurt this guy so badly, then let your emotional hormone-driven anger go and do it. I mean, what's holding you back? You certainly have no problem taking your anger out on me. I'd enjoy the change of target."

Yuki stopped pacing and walked up to Kageru with a small smile. Kageru backed away with his hands up, but Yuki was faster and caught him in a headlock.

"Mercy, mercy!" Kageru cried.

"Never!" Yuki proclaimed darkly as he ground his knuckles into Kageru's scalp.

Just then, Kimi came bounding in. "Oh, my, Kimi lost her lipstick! Do you know where it is?" She then saw the two boys staring at her blankly, Yuki's arm still tight around Kageru's neck. Kageru looked up at her from his bent position with a sheepish smile. "Oh. Well, Kimi doesn't want to interrupt you. She really hopes the president will come out soon and stop making Kimi wait for her date, though!" Then she turned on her heel and strode out, humming softly.

Yuki released Kageru with a laugh. Kageru, rubbing his neck, asked, "What's this? You finally accepted to go on a date with Kimi?"

"No," Yuki said, "but I think Kimi told herself that for long enough that she actually believes it's true. I never accepted anything."

"But you're going to go anway, right?"

Yuki snorted. "No way. I have to go beat the tar out Kyo, remember?" He stared out the window for a second, judging the distance to the ground and how he would have to land the jump. Then he turned back to Kageru with a grin. "Cover for me?"

Kageru leaned against a table and tossed the hair out of his eyes. "Sure. I can always just take her to the bakery again…"

He trailed off, realizing he was talking to empty space. With a sigh and a small smile he shook his head and went to talk to Kimi.

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	3. 3 Reminders

**Words: **376

**Characters: **Hatori, Kana, Mayuko

**Time: **Anytime after Ch. 54

**Genre: **Romance, Hurt/Comfort

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>It felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. Hard.<p>

Hatori had never thought he would see her again, especially not just walking down the street. He thought she had moved away with her new husband. So _why_ was she here, holding hands with two toddlers?

Hatori took a half-step towards Kana, before he remembered that she wouldn't even recognize him. It felt like his heart was twisting, but he forced himself to turn away from the woman he had loved so much.

Then he heard her laugh, behind his back. It sounded like tinkling bells, penetrating through the clamor of the street. He heard the high-pitched giggles of her children. He thought about what it would be like to twirl one of them high in his arms, and call it his own. He wondered what it would be like to be Kana's husband, the father of her kids.

He wondered what he had done to deserve losing it all.

Hatori, realizing he had come to a dead stop in the middle of the sidewalk, took a small step forward. To his surprise, he didn't collapse. He took another, and another. He tilted his head forward and let his short bangs cover his eyes.

His _eye._

For a brief moment, he let himself remember what it had felt like to have tears running down both sides of his face, instead of only one.

"Ha…Hatori?"

He turned to the voice to see a very tall woman leaning against the door frame of an old bookshop. He blinked tears from his eyes to see her better.

"Mayuko?"

She stepped down from the doorway and walked over to him. Hatori, feeling only like locking himself in a dark room, turned his face away.

"Yeah, it's me," she said. She sounded concerned.

_Damn,_ Hatori thought, _I don't want her to worry about me._ He reluctantly looked her in the eye and pulled his mouth into a smile.

"I wish you a good day," he said, and started to walk away.

"Hey," she called out to him. He half-turned back to her. She smiled.

"You paid back your tears, Hatori. That means you can keep mine."

Hatori nodded and started to walk again. But strangely, it seemed a little easier.

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	4. Forever

**Words: **451

**Characters: **Hatori, Kana

**Time: **Pre-manga

**Genre: **Romance

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"Hatori, it's so beautiful!" Kana trailed her fingers in the water, small ripples sending the fall-colored leaves on the surface floating away. He smiled.<p>

"I always come here in autumn. I'm glad you enjoy it like I do."

She turned back to him, her smile making his heart swell. "I love it, Hatori. All of it."

He paused, and reached out his hand to hold her face. "Even... even me?"

Hatori wasn t sure how she would react, but he had to ask. His heart was beating wildly for some reason. Kana only tilted her head into his hand, her smile growing softer.

"Hatori, what a stupid question."

Hatori's heart suddenly stopped out of shock. Out of all the things he had half-expected her to say, that had not been on the list. "Does that mean...?"

"Shh..." She reached up a small hand and pulled his fingers away from her face. On her knees, she leaned forward, her other hand finding his on the ground. "It doesn't matter. It's just a word. What matters is how we spend the time we have together. We can never tell how long that will be, so every moment is precious." Her eyes were passionate, and Hatori found he couldn't look away.

"Don't say things like that, Kana," Hatori said quietly, finally able to speak. "I want us to be forever."

Kana patted his hand. "Me too," she almost whispered. "Me too." Then she rolled off her knees, sitting on the leaf-strewn ground beside him. She let her head rest against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Hatori bent his head to press his lips against hers for a moment, and then he closed his eyes as well and let his head rest on top of hers. They listened to their breathing for a long minute, content to be together.

At first, only one came. Kana pointed to it excitedly, and Hatori half-smiled. Soon, they were surrounded by a swirling dance of iridescent dragonflies.

"Hatori!" Kana whispered, as if afraid to scare them away. "Hatori, look at them all! Aren't they beautiful?"

He looked at her. "They are pale next to you."

"Nonsense," Kana said briskly, a blush spreading across her cheeks. She leaned back against him, and didn't say anything more. She simply watched the dragonflies in amazement. Hatori was not looking at the miracle before him - or at least, not the dragonflies. He was staring lovingly at his own little miracle, the woman who loved him. He was sure of it. She wouldn't say it, but Hatori knew in the way she wanted to spend every second with him.

And he knew he would spend every second with her.

_Forever_, he thought.

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	5. I Missed You

**Words: **524

**Characters: **Rin, Hatsuharu

**Time: **Post-manga

**Genre: **Romance

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"Hey, sexy."<p>

Rin jumped. "Damn it, Hatsuharu, I told you not to call me that!"

He sauntered into the room and pulled her close. "I can't resist. I'm only saying it as it is."

Rin pushed him away half-heartedly, but her hands lingered on his shoulders. "And I'm saying it like I want it to be."

"Shh," he ordered, and kissed her.

She pulled away first. "I missed you," she admitted almost sheepishly.

Hatsuharu laughed. "I just saw you yesterday."

Rin frowned. "Doesn't mean I can't miss you if I want!"

"I hope you miss me even if you don't want," Hatsuharu said with a smile and a seductive twitch of his eyebrows.

Rin pushed harder this time, but couldn't surpress her giggle. "Get away, you incurable flirt."

"If you want," he said, feigning indifference. He made it to the door before turning back with a smirk. "I hope you miss me."

"Fine," Rin said, and strode to him. She grabbed his arm, turned him towards her and kissed him again.

They stood for a while like that, Rin resting her forehead on Hatsuharu's shoulder. Finally he put his lips very close to her ear and whispered, "Am I to take that as a yes?"

"To what?" she mumbled, not moving.

"Oh, I didn't ask you?" Hatsuharu asked, his breath making her cropped hair blow away from her ear. He sounded genuinely confused, but Rin felt him shrug. "Don't make me get on my knees, Rin. I worked so hard to be taller than you, it would seem wasteful."

Her stomach flip-flopped and she practically jumped away from him. "_What _are you talking about?"

Hatsuharu watched her for a moment, then broke out laughing. "Rin, you look like I just declared that I was a woman."

Rin eyed him nervously. "Please tell me you're not."

Hatsuharu looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked down at his torso. "I really don't think so..." he said. He looked at Rin as if expecting her to laugh, and when she didn't, he gathered her into his arms once more. "Rin, if I was a woman, I wouldn't propose to you."

Rin was sure of it this time - her heart skipped a beat. "Pro...pro..."

"Propose," Hatsuharu said serenely. "It's what a man usually does for a woman that he wants to spend every waking minute of the rest of his life with." Rin, for once, was completely speechless. "If you say yes," Hatsuharu added, then leaned down to whisper, "you'll never have to miss me again."

Rin felt panic spurring her heart into an unusual run, and she forced herself to stay rooted to the spot. "What if I say no?" she finally managed.

She felt Hatsuharu tense against her. He leaned down until his face was directly next to hers, his face very serious. "First," he said almost inaudibly, "I would kick your ass."

Rin's eyes grew wide. Hatsuharu stood up again, a small smile on his face. "Then I would keep asking you until you changed your mind."

Rin turned her head away to hide her smile. "Well, that would be a waste of time."

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	6. Smile For Him

**Words: **459

**Characters: **Tohru, Kyo

**Time: **Ch. 129

**Genre: **Romance, Hurt/Comfort

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>She stepped out of the doors of the hospital, expecting to see Uo-chan and Hana-chan greeting her with smiles. Instead, they were staring intensely at someone else and didn't even notice her at first. Tohru let her gaze trace theirs, and soon her eyes met a very familiar pair that turned to pierce into hers.<p>

'Now I'm disillusioned'.

_Run,_ her brain said, and her legs obeyed. She heard Uo-chan and Hana-chan talking to Kyo for a moment before she was too far away to hear them anymore. She felt tears running down her face, and she swiped them away and kept running. Panting, she finally stopped and leaned against a building. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

'I love you, Kyo-kun. Why can't you see that?'

Suddenly, she heard running footsteps. Her eyes snapped open to see _him_ running up to her. He stopped, panting like she had been, and put his hands on his knees. When he caught his breath, he looked up.

"Tohru!"

She stared at him for a very long second, then started running again. _I know I said I would be brave and smile for him. I know I said I could be selfless some more. But... when it comes to him... I want to be selfish. I want to call him mine and not share him with anyone. I want him to smile just for me. I want him to hold only me. Is that wrong?_

"Wait Tohru, just let me talk..."

She could hear her footsteps on the cement. She could hear Kyo swear and start running after her, his shoes echoing her footfalls.

_Run faster,_ she thought, _or he'll catch me, and then... and then he'll tell me that he doesn't love me. _

_"_Tohru, just stop running, please! You just got out of the hospital!"

_Run._

_Run._

_Run._

Tohru didn't look back. She found a wall to sit on and let her feelings wash over her.

_Such a failure,_ she thought. _I've only been a burden to everyone, pushing my desires on them... especially Kyo. How can I be such a horrible, selfish person?_

Then he appeared. "Wait. Please. Just... for a little while."

Tohru almost got up and ran again, but just as she was about to she felt a warm hand grasp her wrist.

And when Kyo grabbed her hand, it dawned on Tohru that it didn't matter what he said next. She would be selfish for a little longer, and keep him close, even if he didn't love her. She would show him that she wasn't dillusional, and that she really did love him, and maybe...

...maybe...

One day, he might change his mind.

Only then did Tohru have the strength to finally smile for Kyo.

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	7. Hard Work

**Words: **355

**Characters: **Akito, Shigure

**Time: **Post-manga

**Genre: **Romance

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life," Akito said. She pulled off her bag, letting it slip through her fingers and hit the ground with a thud.<p>

Shigure laughed. "Working is hard work. That's why they call it that."

"Don't mock me," she said as she sank onto the bed. "I'm too tired…."

Shigure sat next to her and pulled the blankets over her. "You know, there are worse jobs than cleaning. Take mine, for example. My editor makes a very good girlfriend for Ritsu, and that in itself tells you the suffering I must endure."

That, as Shigure had hoped, coaxed a laugh out of Akito. "But... it's humiliating. I'm the head of the house. I shouldn't have to do things like..._clean_."

"You _don't_ have to do them, hani-To. You chose to get a job."

"Why did I do that?" she moaned.

"Because," he leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead, "you're a hard-working, responsible woman and you crave action."

As he started to sit up, Akito hooked her arms around his neck and pulled him down for another kiss, longer this time.

"You know," she whispered, "I can show you some action."

Shigure chuckled. "Hani-To, you're too tired. Get some sleep. Besides, just because Kyo and Tohru aren't staying here doesn't mean that Yuki isn't."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm never to tired for you, koibito. And he wouldn't hear us."

"Yeah, sure," he said sarcastically, but gave her another lingering kiss. "Now, I mean it. Go to sleep."

He sat up and made to leave, when he heard Akito's small voice behind him. "Don't leave me, Shigure. Please?"

Shigure sighed with a small smile and returned to the bed. He sat on the edge and finger-brushed Akito's hair until she fell asleep, her arms wrapped around him. Finally, he pulled her arms away and gently laid them on her stomach. Then he moved to the other side of the bed and slipped in.

"Goodnight, Akito."

His only answer was quiet snores. Shigure smiled and wrapped an arm around her, letting himself join his lover in dreams.

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	8. Better Than Lollipops

**Words: **731

**Characters: **Tohru, Momiji

**Time: **Ch. 111

**Genre: **Romance, Friendship

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"Tohru, want to grab some ice cream?"<p>

She beamed at him. "Sure!"

That one word sent Momiji's stomach swirling like the center of a lollipop. He had stopped carrying them around in the hopes that she would notice how mature he had become.

_Mature,_ he thought with a silent snort. _And ice cream? Together?_

He had meant to take her out to dinner, but he knew she had to study for exams, and he didn't want to get in the way of her future. That was the _last _thing he wanted. So instead of picking her up from Shigure's house and walking her to a romantic restaurant, he took her by the hand and led her down the school stairs, ignoring the looks he was getting both from the Hatsuharu and Yuki and the group of girls behind him.

He didn't want their attention, anyway. He had Tohru right next to him.

They talked about a lot of things on their way to the ice cream parlor, but Momiji couldn't have told you what they were. His mind was on the fact that she was actually going on a date with him… even if she didn't know it. Finally, they reached the store, and Momiji reluctantly let her hand go to open the door for her. As she walked by him, her face slightly pink with a blush, she smiled. Momiji felt his heart clench.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome," he said sincerely, and stepped in after her. When the door had closed, he once again wrapped his fingers around hers.

"What flavor do you want, Tohru?" he asked. He was smugly surprised that he had to lean down to speak in her ear.

"Umm..." She looked deep in thought for a moment. Then her face lit up. "Strawberry! My favorite is strawberry. Whenever I went to get ice cream with my-"

She stopped abruptly, hid her face under her hair, and looked away.

"Your mom?" Momiji asked gently.

Her head barely moved, but it was a nod. Momiji sighed and pulled her out of the shop and made her sit on the bench beside the door. He sat down next to her and took her other hand.

"Tohru," he began slowly. She looked up at him. "You didn't need to stop. I love hearing you talk about your mom. You light up like the sun whenever you remember her. I wouldn't want to take that away from you."

"But, you don't get to have your mother." She said. "I'm so rude and inconsiderate when I completely forget that and go on about mine. You must hate me." Tohru was on the verge of tears.

Momiji smiled and the impossibility of that thought and squeezed her hands. "Tohru, I could never, ever hate you. Especially not for something that silly."

She sniffed, and gave him a small smile. "Really?"

"Absolutely," he said. He grabbed her chin and tilted her face up to the sun, making the tears in her eyes sparkle. He wiped them away with his sleeve, and then spent a long moment just looking at her face.

"You know," he muttered, "you're really, really pretty, Tohru."

This time, the blush erupted like fire on her cheeks. "Um, um, um, thank you..."

Momiji laughed and pulled her gently to her feet. "So, strawberry?"

Tohru looked infinitely grateful for the change of subject. "Yes, please!"

"Strawberry is my favorite, too," he said.

When she turned and grinned at him, Momiji thought he wanted to kiss her more than anything in the world. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up to him, making her squeal in surprise. He was mindful that their bodies didn't touch and activate the curse, but he got as close as possible. She looked up at him, and he tucked her hair behind her ear with his free hand.

"Tohru, do you mind if I kiss you?" he asked.

She said blinked and said nothing for a long second, then stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. She pulled away after only a second, her face oddly serious, but Momiji didn't care.

"Thanks," he said numbly.

She nodded.

"I definitely owe you ice cream now," he laughed. "This has now become the best day of my life."

_You're sweeter than any ice cream, _he thought. _And I love you more than any lollipop._

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	9. Starlight

**Words: **257

**Characters: **Kisa, Hiro

**Time: **Anytime

**Genre: **Romance

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"Kisa, do you love me?"<p>

She turned her small, shining face to him. "Of course I love you, Hiro. Isn't that why we're here?"

Hiro turned to look out over the slow waves lapping on the shore, watching the reflections of stars shimmer and dance on the surface of the dark water. He paused for a moment, then squeezed her hand and kept walking.

"Sometimes, I don't know, Kisa." He said quietly. "Why are we here, in this world? Why does anyone live? There's no reason for life, no greater purpose to serve."

Kisa's hand pulled out of his and she stopped their slow meandering. Hiro stopped too, feeling like she was going to answer him. He wasn't sure what to expect, so he just looked at her and waited.

"Hiro." She spoke quietly, but her voice was passionate. "All I know is that when I was in a dark place, you were a candle that led me home. When I was cold, you would warm my heart. Isn't that enough for you? Isn't it enough to live ... to live for me?"

Hiro said nothing for a moment, taking in how the moonlight glittered in her eyes. She smiled, her skin soft and pearly, and Hiro's heart skipped a beat just looking at her.

"You know," she said, "I live for you, Hiro." She stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. When she pulled away, Hiro saw a blush painted fierily across her cheeks.

He thought it made her even more beautiful.

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	10. The Theatre

**Words: **292

**Characters: **Akito, Shigure

**Time: **Post-season

**Genre: **Romance

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"Are you sure this is what a movie date means?" Akito asked dubiously.<p>

Shigure grinned doggedly and flopped onto the couch next to her, carelessly spilling popcorn on his lap. He laughed, brushing it off, then stretched his arm around her shoulders. "Normally? No. But I figured you would rather stay inside with me than go out to a noisy, crowded, _dark_ theatre full of strangers." He grabbed the remote and started the movie, apparently paying her no attention.

Akito thought for a moment, then nodded to him with a small thankful smile that she knew he saw. She shifted so she could rest her head on Shigure's shoulder. She felt his lips press down on the top of her head, and she reached for the popcorn bowl suspiciously balanced on his knee.

"Give me that," she said with a laugh. "I want to have some, not offer it all to the rug."

When Shigure laughed, she felt the tremor vibrate through her. He reached over the back of the couch and procured a bottle of champagne. Akito gave a small surprised squeak as he popped off the top. Shigure gave her an amused glance and let the pale beverage pour into two tall glasses. He offered her one, and she held the stem delicately.

"Cheers," he said, no stranger to the drink, holding his glass to her.

Akito, much more unfamiliar, clinked his glass and took a hesitant sip. She thought it was perfect for that moment - cool, and bubbly; just how she felt with Shigure's arm around her.

It was dark, and Shigure's house was unfamiliar, but his body was not - so she knew she was safe. She took another sip and sat back to watch the movie.

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	11. Of Rice and Yankees

**Words: **610

**Characters: **Arisa, Kureno

**Time: **Anytime after Ch. 54

**Genre: **Romance, Hurt/Comfort

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>Uo knew it was going to be a hard day when she spilled every grain of rice in the aisle in a single clumsy trip, and the one man she had ever cared for happened to be walking by. He stopped, pausing to look at her sprawled on the ground with rice pouring over her head. He smiled.<p>

"Need a hand?" Kureno asked.

Uo felt her face grow hot. "Umm... yes, yes, I guess I could use some... help..." She trailed off as he leaned down, scooping up a handful of rice off her head and into a sack. "Thank you."

He looked down at her, a small smile twitching at the corners of his sad face. "You're welcome."

"Umm…." She had to build up her courage. It had been weeks since the chance meeting with the strange man, and she had almost given up hope, yet here he was, shopping in the store she worked. She had to ask. "I get off my shift in a few minutes. Would you… take a walk with me?"

He paused. "I was just shopping for the Main House. I was supposed to hurry back." Seeing the crestfallen look on her face, he picked up another handful of rice and tossed it in. "But I suppose a short walk never hurt."

Uo smiled.

oOo

"You're like a walking bird magnet," she said in wonder.

"You're not much better," Kureno commented, seeing the birds swarming on her shoulders to pick rice out of her hair.

Uo laughed. "Yeah, but this doesn't usually happen…."

Kureno looked away. "Doesn't usually happen for me either," he said sadly.

As Uo was about to ask what he meant, she found herself flying forward and her face hit the cement with a painful thud. "Ow!" She turned around to see one of the hated masked faces, her arms outstretched after pushing her.

"Weak little bitch," the girl muttered.

"Hey." Both Uo and the Yankee turned in surprise. "Do you often go around, pushing beautiful young ladies off park benches?"

"What do you care?" the Yankee snarled. "Found yourself a boyfriend, did you Arisa? He looks twice your age. Are you just doing business again?"

"Don't talk to her that way," Kureno said, his cool voice hard. He stood up and towered over the girl, who was tall for her height. "I don't like teaching girls a lesson, but sometimes gang members need a rude awakening."

"Don't you dare lay a hand on me," the Yankee said, pulling out a long metal pipe.

"Go." Kureno ordered.

"Fine," the girl snapped. She looked at Uo, who had stood up and was standing behind Kureno. She spat on her. "I'll see you later, Arisa… when you don't have your guard dog around."

"What was that about?" Kureno asked, sounding concerned. He turned to her to see tears streaking down her face. "Arisa? You're bleeding."

She just shook her head. "I thought they would leave me alone," she whispered. She sniffed, wiping tears off her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect for that to happe-"

"Oh, hush," Kureno said. He wiped a drop of blood of a cut on her forehead with his thumb. "I don't need to know what happened with you and that girl. What she did was out of line regardless. Come on, I'll take you to Hatori."

"Who?" Uo sniffled.

"A friend of mine," Kureno said. And Uo decided she couldn't care less who it was or where they were going, because he wrapped an arm around her and let her lean her head against him, a rock that she could cling to after the storm of her past.

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	12. First Snow

**Words: **178

**Characters: **Yuki, Machi

**Time: **Post-manga

**Genre: **Romance

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>Yuki woke up with a yawn, immediately after which he realized Machi was not in bed.<p>

"Machi?" he called, jumping up and putting on the boots that dutifully waited for him. "Machi, are you here?"

"Of course I'm here," his girlfriend called from the living room of their small apartment. Yuki smiled as he walked out of the room to see her looking out the window, a delicate hand on their Christmas tree. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist, and she turned to gave him a small smile.

"Merry Christmas," he said, kissing her.

Machi accepted the kiss, but didn't seem thrilled. Looking down, he stared at his boots - which were leaving puddles of melted snow on the tile floor – in confusion. Yuki followed her gaze and his grin grew wider.

"Well, I thought you might be more comfortable if I… got us started." He pulled her towards the door, seeing that like him, her boots were already on. "The first snow was last night, Machi. On Christmas Eve. And I know I promised you…."

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	13. Bury The Hatchet

**Words: **265

**Characters: **Kyo, Yuki

**Time: **Post-seasom

**Genre: **Friendship

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>Kyo stared down at his food. It was the easiest place for his eyes to rest, seeing as the only other person in the room was Yuki.<p>

"I see Tohru hasn't lost her touch with cooking," the blonde prince said lovingly. "Tell her that I appreciate both of you visiting for the New Years, and that I'm glad she agreed to cook for us like old times."

Kyo muttered an assent. He glanced away from his bowl and up to the clock, whose minute hand hovered between 59 and 60. Finally, it settled on the latter, and its cheerful chime sounded through the house.

"It's the new year," Yuki commented, following his glance.

Kyo sighed. He stared at his food for another second, then rocketed to his feet. Yuki, reflexes honed to perfection, was a second behind him. They stared at each other like rival gun slingers for a long moment, until Kyo jammed out his hand. Yuki, expecting an attack, was surprised to see it held out, positioned to shake his. He smiled as understanding dawned on him.

He grabbed the hand, not using his usual bone-snapping grip, and shook it heartily. Suddenly, the two of them were laughing, and Yuki took one step and hugged Kyo, patting him on the back. He stepped back and nodded.

"Bury the hatchet?" he asked.

"I'll still beat you one day," Kyo said, but he was smiling.

"It's a challenge," Yuki agreed. "Until then."

They sat down as Tohru walked in. She sighed and shook her head, seeing the two boys silently eating. _They'll never get along…._

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	14. Crazy People

**Words: **100

**Characters: **Kureno, Arisa

**Time: **Post-season

**Genre: **Romance, Friendship

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>Kureno stood at the top of the slope, staring hungrily downwards. Uo stood behind him, her eyes much more apprehensive.<p>

"Come on, Arisa," Kureno pleaded, turning to reach a hand out for her. She shook her head, and he smiled. "Don't Yankees live for the adrenaline rush? This is perfect for you."

"Motorcycles, parachuting, robbing a store… okay. But skiing is just for crazy people." She stared down at the skiis on her feet as if wondering how they had gotten there.

"I told you," Kureno said, finally grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the edge. "Perfect for you."

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><p><strong>AN:** Woohoo! Finally, a legit drabble! Only 100 words! …Don't expect too many. ; ) They're too difficult for me.

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	15. This Little Thing Called Love

**A/N:** Don't know if this was supposed to be romantic or friendly or whatever when requested, but YukixKyo it is, so enjoy!

**Words: **135

**Characters: **Yuki, Kyo

**Time: **Between Ch. 59 and 60

**Genre: **Angst… I guess?

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"Hey."<p>

Yuki turned, closing Tohru's door with a quiet click. Kyo was leaning against the wall, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans and a scowl on his face. Yuki smirked a little, remembering the feeling of Tohru's soft skin under his lips. "Yeah?" he asked softly.

"Why are _you_ putting her to sleep?"His tone was accusatory.

"She put the kids to bed. Can't I do the same for her?"

"The kids are younger than her. You doing it is creepy."

Yuki's smirk grew and he arched a brow. "Jealous?"

The reaction was rewarding. Yuki couldn't help a little laugh as he stalked past the juunishi, patting his shoulder as he did. "Come on, stupid cat. You have her all to yourself tomorrow. Can't I have this little thing now?" He didn't wait for an answer.

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><p><strong>AN: **Yay! I redecorated! Hope you enjoy the new look. Also, I'm soon going to be basing these off of one-word prompts from my new community. The community doubles as a weekly contest for one-shots based off the prompts that I put up every Monday. If you are interested please check it out!

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	16. Abandoned

**Words: **756

**Characters: **Katsuya, Kyoko

**Time: **Pre-series (Ch. 90)

**Genre: **Romance, Hurt/Comfort

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>It was her hair that caught his eye; flaming red, straight, wispy and shining under the florescent lights of the high school. Though it was the first thing that he noticed, he soon noticed the similar shimmer in her eyes as she glared steadfastly at the teachers, her grim line of a mouth promising trouble.<p>

He could tell the magic word when they said it. 'Parents' sent her off the deep end.

"I'm not running away, moron! How dare you put on airs when all you do is ignore me! You can wait forever, but they're not gonna come!"

Giving up on what they obviously considered a hopeless – and dangerous – case, the teachers fled, and the small, frail girl slowly set down the chair she had been wielding like a madwoman. She didn't notice him standing by the windows, the curtains fluttering in the faint breeze. She had her back turned to him, and he watched as all the fight slowly seeped out of her. He couldn't help it. "Why are you so mad?"

Those eyes – they turned to him, first with surprise, then flashing with anger. "Huh? Who the hell are you?" She straightened and shot him a contemptuous glance. "If you're gonna give me a sermon, get in line, stupid."

Katsuya raised an eyebrow. "I have no sermon," he said honestly, because he couldn't think of anything to say other than what he already said. "I just want to know what is so irritating," he repeated.

"That is none of your business, man! Get lost!"

She was leaving. Katsuya wanted answers. His family called it his 'personality flaw.' To understand everything… what bliss that would be. "Yes," he said to her, tilting his head consideringly, "but I'm curious."

She went mad again. But it was different this time. Where before she had been stiff with pride, angrily lashing out at those trying to tear her down, now she was bent over, shaking, her eyes wide with what Honda could only think of as panic. This girl… her heart was breaking with each slam of her tiny hands. Each tear was another layer of hurt that had been piled on her narrow shoulders. She reminded him… of himself.

"But… you want them to care about you, right?" Katsuya thought about the faces of his family, those that would see him bent over with his nose in a book, and turn away with disgust plain in their expressions. "You want them to turn around and notice you, don't you? Those people… you want to be given a purpose, right? You want them to understand you. You want them to react to you. You want to be loved. Right?" Katsuya couldn't help a wry smile as he took off his glasses slowly, seeing as the girl's hands clenched in front of her and her wide, teary eyes stared unseeingly at the table through her red bangs.

"That's the way I am."

Suddenly, the tension flew from her. "How did I get this way?" she pleaded, her voice a hoarse whisper. "How did I… the thing I want most is to ask myself _how…_ _how _did I get like this?" She picked up a hand, tipped in red nail polish, and stared at it as tears dripped onto the surface like counting the sins written in the skin.

Then she surprised him. "I'm sad," she whimpered. She closed her hand into a fist and knocked it against the top of her skull. "I'm lonely."

Katsuya stood for a moment, his muscles frozen. This girl, the small Yankee that had held a chair like an expert street fighter unfazed with teachers as her enemies, had summed up in four words what Katsuya had spent years pondering. That empty ache in his heart that never went away; that hole deep inside that he tried to fill with the empty compliments given by uncaring relatives; the burning desire for knowledge that he could never quite satisfy. Eternal sadness, aching loneliness - how did this uneducated, violent child know things that he did not? He took a few steps towards her, suddenly overwhelmed by curiosity, and even more so by a simmering urge to comfort this abused and abandoned child that was a rippled reflection of himself. "You're sad?" he questioned, resisting the urge to put his hand on her shoulder.

She didn't do anything for a second, and suddenly he couldn't hold himself back any longer. "Well, then, let's get out of here… together." He dragged her to her feet, uncaring of her answer.

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><p><strong>AN: **I LOVE THIS PAIRING SO MUCH! There will definitely be more from them. This was their entrance scene... literally.

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	17. Princess

**Words: **374

**Characters: **Kyo, Hanajima

**Time: **Ch. 87, before they go out on stage

**Genre: **Angst, Romance-ish

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"I'm not going to call you Princess, just so you know."<p>

Hanajima turned to look at him. "Oh, what a horrible Prince you are. You really should work on your manners. You're lucky anyone is going to your ball with that kind of tongue."

"Geez," Kyo growled, struggling into his ridiculously ornate outfit. _Damn Ayame,_ he thought. _Is everything he does completely over the top?_ "I wasn't even that mean – I was actually trying to put it nicely, considering that in five minutes I'm going to have to act like I'm in love with you." He rolled his eyes and finally managed to stuff his arms into their holes. "God, what a nightmare."

"It won't be that bad," Hanajima purred. She stepped up to his side and grabbed the cloak he had thrown carelessly on the ground, clipping it onto his shoulder and giving it a straightening pat. Kyo stared at her in mute shock. Hanajima was never helpful. Then she actually gave him a tiny smile, and Kyo was struck by how… pretty she looked, all tied up in the old-fashioned dress and her long black hair flowing down to her waist. He blushed and looked away, silently cursing himself for even thinking it.

"Come on," Hanajima said, going back to the edge of the curtain to peer out at the audience. "Tohru will be there. It won't be that horrible if she's standing up there with us, right?"

Kyo realized he hadn't even thought about Tohru. Suddenly, he grew nervous. "That's not comforting," he muttered. "That only makes it worse."

"Why?" Hanajima asked, her voice suddenly tinted with a hard edge as she turned back to peer at him through thick eyelashes. "Are you sorry that you have to act like you love me, when she is standing there too?"

"Don't read my mind!" Kyo half-yelled. "How many times do I have to tell you!"

Hanajima glared at him for an unknown reason, her eyes narrow. Finally she sighed and turned away from him again. "I don't have to," she said, and for some reason, Kyo thought she sounded sad… or disappointed… or something. Her voice was lower than usual, and she spat out the words. "It's written all over your face."


	18. Who Was Wrong?

**Words: **377

**Characters: **Hatori, Akito

**Time: **Anytime

**Genre: **Angst, Romance

**Disclaimer: **Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>"Hatori…."<p>

His name was whispered like a prayer, or a dying wish, the wispy voice coated in tears. He told himself not to go back; just this once, not to cave in. But then he heard a little hiccup of a sob behind him in the dark, and closing his one good eye, he sighed. He stopped and turned around, seeing the delicate pale frame of the girl standing in her doorway, arms held out to him.

"Hatori," she repeated, flexing her fingers towards him, "please come back."

Hatori didn't move for a long second. He wished he could drag out that second forever. But eventually, his feet came to life of their own accord and pulled him back to the kimono-clad beauty. Her hands wrapped around his neck and pulled him against her, nails digging into the skin with the strength of her grip. Hatori felt too many emotions at once to know what to do. It was always like this. The rush of love, of pain, of bitterness and attraction and confusion and desire.

He wound his arms around her and pulled the small girl against him, feeling the beat of her heart. He squeezed her so tightly he thought for a moment he might hurt her, that she couldn't breathe, but Akito just sobbed a little louder and kissed his neck.

"I'll always love you, Hatori," she whispered.

His mouth moved on its own. "I love you, Akito." He kissed her once, lingering and burning on the mouth, then carefully pulled away. "Kureno will be back soon," he warned her.

"And you have things to do," she sighed angrily, glaring at him.

Hatori nodded.

Akito leaned forward, thin fingers tracing his ruined eyelid, the cold touch of skin sending shivers down his spine. "If I said I was sorry… for all that… would you stay?"

Hatori grabbed her hand, gave it a little squeeze, then backed away. "No, Akito," he said. "You don't need to apologize. None of it is your fault."

He forced himself to walk away from the doorway, from the temptress it framed, all the while images of Kanna flashing in his mind. "I'm sorry, Kanna," he whispered to the night air when Akito couldn't hear him. "It's my fault, really…."

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><p><strong>AN: **This one is a little more... something... than they others. But what is it? Argh.

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	19. Etiquette

**Words: **652

**Characters: **Tohru, Kyo's Father

**Time: **Post-series

**Genre: **Drama

**Disclaimer:** Tayaka Natsuki owns everything.

_(And especially for this_ one!) **Summary: **It was true that there were few things in the world that it could anger Tohru. She normally had a very forgiving, gentle personality. But there were two things that provoked her; the deliberate abuse of her husband, and the abuse of her children - deliberate, not, or even just planned.

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><p>The man walked up the neat garden path and stopped on the doorstep, peering through the open door and into the small house. It was a beautiful day outside – sunny with a light breeze – and he supposed that the inhabitants of the house were out enjoying the weather. Except, they wouldn't leave the doors ajar if they were out, even to let in the fresh air. He figured someone had to be home. Quietly, he rapped on the wood of the doorframe and called, "Hello?"<p>

Tohru came strolling out of the kitchen with an apron wrapped around her petite waist, a spatula in one hand, and a wide smile. "Yes, who is i-" She stopped short and her smile fell. "Oh."

"May I come in?" The man's voice was cool, but not entirely collected, and Tohru immediately wanted to say no. But, she gritted her teeth and tried to think about every etiquette lesson she had ever been taught.

"Yes, please do." She knew her voice was tight, and she didn't sound cheerful in the least, but it would have to do. "I'm sorry, but I have some rice cooking. I'll be right back, and I'll put on a pot of tea while I'm gone."

The man nodded absently, stepping through the door and taking off his shoes. When Tohru returned, no longer wielding the spatula and instead holding a small white tea pot, he was standing by the door and staring into space.

"Would you like to sit down?" She walked over to the small table and two chairs in the middle of the room, setting down the tea pot and the cups she had brought with her. With a forced smile, she gestured to one of the chairs. The man seemed to focus back on her, and his eyes narrowed.

"No," he said. "I'm actually looking for your husband and the kids, if you wouldn't mind telling me where they went."

"That depends," Tohru said, _too_ sweetly, "on what you want with them." The man looked at her sharply.

"Don't give me lip, woman. I want to know where my son and grandchildren are, and I have a right to that information. You had better start talking."

Tohru straightened, her eyes flashing. "Don't talk to me that way in my own home," she snapped. Kyo's father looked taken aback at her temper, and Tohru took advantage of his surprise by closing the distance to him and jabbing two fingers into his chest. "Listen up. I'm sure everyone told you that I'm just a sweet, delicate little girl. Well, I should tell you that they're all wrong. If you _ever _come anywhere _near _my husband, I'll make you regret that day for the rest of your life. And if you even _think_ about laying a hand on my children…." Her eyes narrowed and she glowered up at the man that towered over her fearlessly, "I will _cut that hand off._" She backed up a step. "Do I make myself clear… sir?"

Kyo's father's expression seemed to be warring between fury and shock. "You're a woman!" he growled. "To think that you'd talk to your father-in-law that way…!"

Torhu bent over and picked up his shoes, shoving them into his hands with a glare that could have killed. "Get out of my house," she ordered. "And don't ever come here again if you know what's good for you. My husband wouldn't think about uninviting you to our wedding, but if I had had my say, you never would have been there. And you can forget about ever speaking to our children. Your words would just poison them."

"I have a right to my grandchildren!" the man hissed.

"No," Tohru said, pushing him out the door. "Because first and foremost, they are _my _children. And you're just the bastard that ruined my husband's life for years."

She slammed the door in his face.

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><p><strong>AN: **Woo-hoo! Sorry for the long update, and yes, I'll get to requests eventually, just trying to space things out so that all the characters get a turn...

I enjoyed writing this, actually, because seriously, Tohru needed some kick-ass moments. I considered giving her a knife instead of a spatula, but figured that might be taking it just a _wee_ bit too far...

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	20. Intellect

**Words:** 660

**Characters: **Rather up to interpretation, but Kyo/Tohru was my intent.

**Time: **Post-manga

**Genre: **Drama, Romance

**Disclaimer: **Takaya Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>She was like the sun, or maybe the forest. She was everything, so vast and infinite and pure he knew he could understand everything about her and still barely have scratched the surface. He wasn't an intellectual man, nor was he inclined to philosophy – but even he knew that should he try to take her, it would be the ruin of her being. It was obvious to him, the answer glaring him in the face: just as through man attempting to capture nature and contain it nature is destroyed, so would his greedy ownership of her kill that which he so desired to own.<p>

He knew this, or maybe only felt it, because he was not an intellectual man. But he could tell, from the surge of guilty pleasure that coursed through him every time he held her, that she would slowly decay in his arms. Yet still, he couldn't keep his arms from reaching out time and time again. His slow thievery of the sunlight, his quiet burning of the woods, filled him with such contented warmth, he deluded himself with the thought that there would always be more sun to shine, always more trees to grow. Really, he knew it was too late to stifle his secret and growing addiction.

There were a few, he knew, to which it was no secret. The heavy glance that wasn't quite a glare the stupid rat sent his way every time their eyes met; the knowing, jealous, piteous smirk the dog always wore around him, one corner of his lips hitched up and eyes not exactly narrowed; Kureno's quiet sighs behind his back, and even Shishou's forced smile. The worst of all were the two girls, one tall and blonde and lanky, hatred unconcealed in her eyes and gracefully strong-boned jaw, the other petite and dark, emotions hidden behind a veil of mystery and her dislike only evident from the tingling on the back of his neck. He knew they witnessed the gradual falling of their sweet savior from heaven, perhaps more than any, because they knew her better, longer, closer than the family who had taken her for themselves. He might have wondered why they made no move to interfere, to reciprocate salvation – might have eventually figured that they only wished for her happiness, despite any personal suffering her descent caused in them.

He did neither, because he wasn't really an intellectual man.

Above all else, he was a man of action. He craved wrapping his arms around her, engulfing her, suffocating her with his desire and his passion. He hated the quiet moments in the dark of the night, her head pillowed on his shoulder and soft movement as she breathed like a butterfly fluttering against his chest. His mind wandered restlessly, unable to shake the feeling of panic that he kept something so pure and good beside him. Did he chain her to him? Did her demand her loyalty? Was she merely obligated somehow in her twisted, beautiful, selfless psyche to alleviate his suffering?

He loved her, and the thought scared him, so he shook it out of his head and brushed aside her bangs to kiss her forehead and breathe in the contented sigh she unknowingly, subconsciously muttered.

Out of all, she realized it the least. She smiled wider, hummed louder, kissed sweeter with every passing day, so convinced was she that she was being filled with happiness. And when she turned her back and walked away, his hands reached after her, only wanting to hold her again, and stopping himself. He wanted to tell her, to scream to her, to tear off her shackles and run while she could, while she still had that light within her. But he was not an intellectual man, and even he would admit he was selfish – so he closed his mouth and silently wished for her to fill herself with nothing but his burning darkness, for the rest of time.

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><p><strong>AN:** So, I just did a huge project on Transcendentalism for my AP English class and my brain is still kinda stuck on it. So, this is the product of three hours of sleep, being bored in French class, and coming out of a philosophical college class at 7:40 in the morning...

It seems a little more... I don't know, _something_ than the others. What do you guys think? I might expand it, but this is what I wrote in one sitting.

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	21. Twisted

**Words:** 3,698

**Characters: **Shigure, Hatori (mentioned Akito and Ayame)

**Time: **Pre-manga through post-manga

**Genre: **Angst, Drama... skew it to be romance if you so desire, for that was how I wrote it...

**Disclaimer: **Takaya Natsuki owns everything.

**A/N: **So, I posted this as a separate story, but for those of you who only watch this one I figured I would put it up here. And with this chapter, I have (some will say) broken my promise not to write yaoi. This isn't strictly one, but you could definitely spin it that way. Read with an open mind and try to pick through the symbols!

I really have no clue where this beast of a one-shot came from. I still blame the transcendentalism.

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><p>Shigure didn't know when it started.<p>

They'd been best friends for so long, rivals in some senses, partners in crime when he could drag Hatori with him. He was the quiet, angsty teen – he didn't have Ayame's grace or Shigure's devil-may-care attitude – and the girls couldn't get enough of him. When the three were together, they were an unstoppable ball of sheer attractiveness, but alone, they were all heartthrobs in their own right. Ayame treated every girl like a princess, but never committed to any of them. Hatori and Shigure developed a system to rate his interest: when a girl said hello, and he replied with a kiss to her hand and a dramatic departure, he hated her. A hiss to the hand and a conversation meant he had no feelings for her, a kiss the forehead friendship, and a kiss to the cheek the mildest of crushes. He never kissed any girl on the lips, and he never felt anything more, so that was where his two friends' classification ended. Shigure, true to form, was the roughest of the group. He would dismissively turn down anyone he wasn't interested in, date those he had even the slightest crush for, and – if he wasn't caught cheating or his girlfriend simply grew bored – he inevitably broke up with them, brusquely and insensitively, after a few weeks.

It probably didn't help that most of them only dated him thinking he would be a 'bad boy', and the rest were only trying to get closer to Hatori or Ayame.

Shigure prided himself on being a teen with no pride at all. He found everything amusing, true to his cynical nature, and would tell absolutely everyone that he _didn't care at all._ So when he found his girlfriend crying in front of Hatori, who was politely, sadly, regretfully telling her how wrong it would be of him to date her, he walked up laughing, slapped the shocked girl's ass, and told them both they had his blessing – usually with an expletive or two mixed in.

And when the guilt-ridden girl would stutter out an excuse and leave, Hatori would fix him with a pointed look, and he could only sigh when Shigure grinned back and pulled out a cigarette.

"Want one?" he would ask, offering the pack to him and shaking out one small white cylinder invitingly.

Hatori would pull or flip his hair out of his eyes and reply, "Those things will kill you."

Shigure would shrug, light up, and tell himself he could care less.

That was the way Hatori operated, so differently from his two friends; he was heartbreakingly sincere to all, his quiet, soft voice always calming, lulling them into a sense that everything would somehow be okay. Whenever Ayame would show up even more dramatic than usual, arguing over everything, Hatori and Shigure would know his parents were up to something. They would ditch for the rest of the day and do anything distracting. Once they egged the Principal's house, once they went to a casino with fake IDs, and once they even went to the Red Light District. No one could say they didn't live wild, or rather, that Ayame and Shigure didn't – more often than not the trips would end late at night with Shigure and Ayame stoned, drunk, or both, and Hatori calmly, resignedly driving them back to the mansion to stay for the night. When Shigure's parents kicked him out of the house for getting his girlfriend's sister pregnant, calling it the last straw in a long string of offences, Hatori let him stay with his family until he could get enough money to rent an apartment. Hatori's parents hated him – called him out on being the horrible influence he was, dubbed him a worthless, good-for-nothing dropout (despite the fact that he was the third best in his class, right behind his two cohorts). Hatori cared more than he did about the accusations, coldly threatening to leave if Shigure was turned away.

Shigure could count on one hand the number of times Hatori had asked a favor of him, and knew his own list of debt was innumerable. The first time had been when he wanted to ask out a girl, and asked Shigure for advice. The dog zodiac had been quietly observing Hatori's reaction to her for some time – the blush that spread across his cheeks every time she walked by, the stuttering when he said hello to her, the quick escapes he made whenever he could have had a conversation with her. So, when Hatori came by Shigure's apartment one rainy day, Shigure invited him in with unusual severity and put on a pot of tea.

"You like this girl, don't you?" he had asked, a hint of a sigh on his voice. Hatori had said nothing, but blushed and turned away. Laughing shamelessly at his friend – he had a reputation to uphold, after all – he'd launched into a detailed interrogation on everything Hatori knew about her, and then an even more intricate description of how to woo her. Hatori left several hours and three pots of tea later with an uncharacteristic grin, commenting offhandedly that Shigure should consider being a romance author.

Needless to say, Hatori got the girl.

Which, in the long run, led to the second and third favors the dragon asked of the dog. When Hatori and Hana had been dating for a year, he asked Shigure to help him with a surprise anniversary party for her. Shigure told him to take her to dinner and a movie, and offered him his apartment for the night with a wink. To his surprise, Hatori had thanked him and accepted, though his face was bright red and he didn't meet Shigure's eyes. So when five seconds later, Hatori had hesitantly asked, "What do I do?" Shigure gave him a notebook filled from cover to cover with his own small, neat print.

"What is this?" Hatori had asked, absently flipping through it.

Shigure had shrugged, pulled out a cigarette, and mumbled around it, "Some shit I jotted down. I guess it's sort of a story." He held out the pack. "Want one?"

Silently, Hatori shook his head, absorbed in the first page. Shigure watched him for a moment, shook his head, and walked away. He didn't care about the enthusiastic response to his work, nor the lack of rebuttal for his drug addiction.

He _definitely _didn't care that Hatori was sleeping with Hana.

Time passed. Hatori graduated as Valedictorian and was accepted to medical school on full-ride scholarship. Ayame, Salutatorian, could have gone to any school he wanted, but happily refused and started his fashion store. (Shigure figured he only did it to piss off his parents, because that was certainly the effect.) Shigure considered his options and decided on doing nothing. Occasionally, if he was in a productive mood, he would write something. Otherwise he mooched money off the family and spent his time smoking and thinking. He sold the book he had given Hatori, much to the other boy's joy, and it was surprisingly successful.

"I knew you'd be an amazing author," Hatori had smuggle declared.

"And I knew you'd be a goddamn doctor, you rich bastard," Shigure had replied, puffing on a cigarette. "Always going on about my health…"

Hatori considered the haze surrounding Shigure sadly, but after so long had learned to accept it. Life went on, and Hatori and Shigure were both generally happy. Eventually, the dragon came to Shigure for more romantic advice.

"I want to marry her," he admitted, somewhat sheepishly.

Shigure had stayed silent for a long second, then blew a cloud of smoke over his shoulder. "Are you sure?" he had drawled.

Hatori's eyebrow had twitched in the quirky expression of annoyance only he could manage. "Am I sure? Am I fucking _sure?_ Don't ask me that, Shigure." He took a deep, calming breath and tried a smile, a warm hand descending on his friend's shoulder. "I need a touch of your magic for this."

Shigure had grudgingly helped, glaring at the boy and inviting him in at once, though it occurred to him then that Hatori had always come to him, and it might have crossed his mind for the briefest moment that Hatori wouldn't even have the girl if not for him. If it did, it was quickly dashed away, because Shigure knew he _could_ have turned away those hopeful, loving, trusting eyes if he wanted to – he really _didn't care._

And he might, possibly, accidentally have slipped about his engagement just loud enough for Akito to hear. How was he supposed to know she was just around the corner when he gave the news to the house servants? He couldn't hear her quiet footsteps or tiny breaths.

So, if he felt stabs of guilt the next day when Hatori's world crashed around his ears, it was totally inexplicable. If he hovered outside of Hatori's room in the hospital as the nurses bustled around his unconscious form, hands shaking unnoticed in his pocket, it was only because he couldn't smoke in the waiting area.

And damn, he needed to.

Eventually, he was let in, with many a condescending stare from the doctors. Hatori's chest rose and fell evenly, high-pitched, incessant, yet somehow comforting beeps accompanying the electric green spikes of his heart monitor. The author had glanced around him, found a chair in the corner of the room, and did what he did best.

Sat, smoke, and wrote.

A nurse came in once after a few hours and sternly informed him that he had to put out his cigarette and that smoking in the hospital was strictly forbidden. He had flashed her a devlishly charming smile, the offending white cylinder dangling nonchalantly from two fingers, and purred, "Does it look like I _care?"_

The nurse had left with a glare and a half-indignant, half-piteous huff, because it was obvious, really, that he didn't.

He couldn't say how much time passed, as he lost himself in the miasma of smoke around him and swirling through the clean air of the sealed room, the blank pages of his notebook clear before his focused eyes. Just as the sky was starting to darken, Hatori's deep, quiet voice spoke up, "What are you writing?" jolting him out of his work with a start as he realized his friend was awake.

Shigure breathed in and let out a huff of smoke as he exhaled. Cigarette clamped in his teeth, he had growled back, "What does it matter?"

"I'm curious."

"I don't fucking care."

"Are you going to answer me?"

Shigure had pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and clamped his notebook shut, lifting his eyes to peer at Hatori. His friend was laying on his back, his face hidden from Shigure. "How did you know I was writing?"

"I'll take that as a no," Hatori commented dryly.

"A stupid story about a stupid boy and his stupid girlfriend being stupidly in love. Happy?"

Silence had descended on the room for a long, uncomfortable moment. Hatori shifted on the bed, the whisper of the crisp sheets and the creaking of the cold silver metal the only other sound besides the beeps that Shigure didn't even notice anymore. His voice was almost a whisper when he finally responded.

"I lost her… and it was my own fault. I was too greedy, I wanted too much. I believed and hoped and loved too much. And now, not only am I suffering, but to know that she is too, to know what she's been put through…." He cut off in a choked sob. A moment later, he coughed out, "I'm not happy."

Something had twisted in Shigure's stomach, tightening and churning and stabbing. He had looked away towards a bland and colorless wall and took a long drag on his cigarette until the smoke burned his throat. He stood up and moved to the door, put his hand on the knob, twisted his wrist.

Hatori coughed on the bed behind him. "But… the smell of your cigarettes and the sound of your pencil scratching on paper… I guess it makes this tolerable."

Shigure's hand lifted an inch off the cold metal and hovered there. He swallowed hard and coughed a little at the thick tar coating his throat from his marathon of (no, it was not nervous) chain-smoking. He looked at the cigarette in his hand, little more than a butt clasped between two shaking fingers. "Do you want one?" he had suddenly asked.

"Are you going somewhere?" Hatori had inquired plaintively, almost delicately.

"Why do you always do this? Can't you answer a question?"

"Can't you?"

"Damn it, Hatori, you did it again, you fucking asshole. I have better things to do," Shigure spat, and his hand closed around the knob again.

"Then yes."

"Yes what?"

"If you're leaving… give me a cigarette."

Shigure had turned around once more, easily masking his surprise behind a smirking, smug face. "I don't have to ask if you're serious," he said, though it sounded more like a question. Hatori didn't reply. Shigure crossed the room in a few quick steps and took his pack out of a hidden pocket, holding it out. Hatori made no move to take it, and belatedly Shigure realized that his eyes were completely covered in bandages, blood slowly seeping through and staining the white fabric with bright red. Meaning, something in the back of his mind nudged him, Hatori had known him without having to see him, could tell it was him by his cigarettes and his paper and pen.

Something else, equally dark, equally mean and quiet and whispering, shoved back that he would be able to see Shigure were it not for Shigure himself.

Pushing both thoughts away – because he didn't _care_ – he took Hatori's hand from its resting place atop the clean white sheets and folded the pack into it, his friend's fingers automatically curling around it with crushing, desperate force.

"I only wanted one," Hatori had croaked, somewhat shakily, as if in denial to the force with which he held the death sticks he had always despised.

Shigure's lips had curled at the corners. "Trust me, you'll need them all."

"I don't trust you."

The four words were like an icy knife through Shigure's heart, piercing with suspicious and terror and guilt, but it didn't show. "After all this time…." He sighed and shook his head with exaggerated disappointment. "Why ever not?"

"You're fingers are cold."

Shigure looked down, noting with some surprise that his hand was still resting lightly on Hatori's, and automatically his sharp mind processed the implications. He drew them away slowly with a tiny, dark smile, hidden from Hatori's eyes by soft white cloth and blood.

"You should put on some gloves," Hatori continued. "Your circulation has always been terrible."

Shigure walked out of the room, tossing his lighter over his shoulder so it landed squarely on his friend's chest. "It's because my heart doesn't work, Hatori," he called lightly. "Haven't all my girlfriends told you this?"

And from his place, unmoving, Hatori had half-smiled, half-grimaced. "Your heart works fine. So Akito tells me, that is."

The two friends didn't talk for some time after the incident. They both knew, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't convince themselves that they didn't care. They cared too much about too many things in far too many ways for anything they said not to turn into a twisted web of riddles. The first time they heard from each other afterwards was over a year later, when Shigure finally called Hatori with news of the girl that had come to live in his house. Expectably, the first question the doctor had asked was an exasperated, "How _old_ is she, Shigure?"

"You think I'm doing her?"

"When have you _not_ done any cute girl you could?"

"Well, that's just it, Hatori. I _can't_ do her… unfortunately."

"I suppose there's a good reason for this strangely honorable behavior."

"I don't really want to spoil our one chance at breaking the curse."

Hatori had been quiet for so long Shigure considered that he had hung up. Finally somewhere in the background, he heard a familiar _click-shhhh-click,_ and smirked. Hatori's low, quiet voice growled a moment later, "What the hell are you plotting?"

"How many have you had today, Hatori?" Shigure had asked, plainly, quietly. He leaned against the counter.

There was only a moment's pause, and Hatori's voice was tight when he responded, "I hate this fucking game. You never answer anything."

"What would be the fun in that? You've never answered me."

"How many have _you_ had today?"

"I quit."

"Really?" Hatori had drawled sarcastically.

"Really. A year ago."

"Why? I thought you just didn't care if they were bad for you?"

Shigure chewed his lip for a moment before answering. "I guess I cared enough." He paused for half a second. "Besides, I don't need them anymore. They accomplished their goal."

Hatori puffed quietly on the other side of the line, and Shigure knew his meaning grew clearer and clearer with each drag.

"Do what you want with her, Shigure," he sighed eventually. "I don't care."

"No?"

"Not anymore."

"…Interesting."

"I read your new book the other day."

Shigure closed his eyes, mouth twitching, tempting him to smile. "Did you? And what is your verdict, Oh Smart One?"

"I thought it was brilliant."

"That's good to hear. I suppose some things will never change."

"Shigure…"

Shigure's heart had clenched, and his nails tried to dig in the cell phone. "Mm?"

"…damn you."

Shigure clicked the phone shut, leaned his head on the wall, and sucked in a deep breath.

He didn't know when it had started, since for the longest time he didn't care. But somewhere along the line, things had shifted. Hatori was as cold and calculating as Shigure, smoking the brand the dog zodiac used to stock in every pocket he had, screwing the twisted little girl Shigure had given up on long ago. He couldn't say whose sake it was for anymore, hers or Hatori's couldn't say where he or Hana or anyone else fit into the equation; couldn't say if Hatori wanted to burn the strands that tied them to the family and the curse as much as he did or if the spider's strands were the only thing holding him together. He couldn't say if he didn't care anymore. Because when he finally saw Hatori again, a haze of the oh-so-familiar smelling smoke curling around him, and his hair in his eyes like always, and his voice quiet and soft and sweet, and his lips warm as Shigure's fingertips brushed them to snatch the cigarette out of his mouth and suck on it, tasting Hatori's mouth and his sadness and his resignation and hatred and _apathy_ – when Hatori's eyebrow had twitched in annoyance at the theft, but a blush had crept across his cheeks uncalled-for at the contact, Shigure wasn't sure the leap in his chest was coincidental.

"These things will kill you," he had stated simply, and even he, the renowned author he was, wasn't sure that he precisely knew the subject of that sentence.

Hatori had looked away with a glower and a shrug, silent.

"After all this time, it's hard to believe the curse is finally broken," Shigure continued, and for once in his life his shaky voice wasn't hidden behind a façade of confidence. "I… don't know what I'm going to do anymore. Who knew freedom felt so… hollow? I never wrote it that way…" He trailed off, his sentence ending in an uncertain chuckle.

Hatori snatched his smoldering cigarette out of Shigure's hand, took one long drag, and tossed it on the ground, crushing it under the toe of his immaculate black boot and leaving a black smudge on the wood floors of the mansion uncaringly. Shigure watched the sparks flutter to the ground slowly and wink out, oddly memorized, and when Hatori's quiet, deep voice sounded – he was barely a foot away, so close and so far and so untouchable even after everything – it was the words that caught him more than the lulling, calming tone that had been untouched by the long months of smoking: "So maybe it's time to write something new."

Shigure slipped a hand under his robes to rest on his chest, rubbing over his heart absently at the throbbing ache that had persisted since Akito had let them go from her desperate grip. "New," he purred, rolling the word in his mouth and tasting it on his tongue. He nodded slowly, appreciating the feel of the word. "I suppose I could do that."

Hatori watched him with the smallest of smiles, then scrubbed his eyes with the back of his hands tiredly as comfortable silence stretched between the two old friends. "I've been thinking about quitting," he inserted after a few moments.

Shigure couldn't stop himself from frowning, even if he knew they would kill his friend, even if he had quit himself so long ago. Hatori caught the motion with his devilishly sharp eye and smirked knowingly, tauntingly, smugly. He walked past Shigure, pausing for a moment with their shoulders abreast to ask, "Afraid even that bond is going to break? It was only ever smoke, Shigure. There's a reason you're such a good romance author… it's all in your head."

And as the sound of his crisp footsteps on the wood floor receded behind him, Shigure pulled his hair out of his eyes and leaned against the wall, pulling out a notebook and a pen. "New," he called, and he heard the bootfalls pause at the end of the hall and instinctively knew that Hatori had turned to look at him, would have known if his eyes had been gauged out or bloody bandages keeping him in the dark. "I like that idea. A good author could make an interesting story with such a simple word…."

A quiet chuckle, a sigh, and a moment later, Hatori was gone, and Shigure's pen scratched against the paper with a quiet, hopeful sound.

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><p><strong>AN: **This took me forever, and NaNoWriMo starts in a week, so think of it as a long goodbye present before a long break! What did you guys think? Feel free to review the full version too, it's on my page!

REVIEW!

**I feel so grateful! **


	22. That's Enough

**Words:** 2,120

**Characters: **Kana, Hatori

**Time: **Post-manga

**Genre: **Romance, Angst I guess?

**Disclaimer: **Takaya Natsuki owns everything.

This one is for ~xxxBloodiedWolfPawxxx. Sorry it took me so long to get around to your request.

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><p><strong><span>READ:<span>**This chapter was inspired by a song I wrote for one of my friends on the offhand comment that the key of A major has a very bittersweet tone to it. I really do like it and would recommend you listen to it while reading. It sets the mood perfectly. "Snow" by Sandra Phillips. (Stupid document manager won't let me put a link in no matter how I format it, not even a hyperlink. X( Sorry guys.)

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><p>The night was the bitingly cold and clear kind, where the stars glittered perfectly with an untouchably far-away light. Some were hidden behind a soft blanket of downy gray clouds, their blackness lightened by the pearly full moon and quiet snowflakes drifting from them like whispers on the night sky. The whole landscape was covered in a white coat, and for once, the city was totally silent.<p>

Hatori sat on the park bench in his usual severe black suit, rubbing his hands absently to keep them warm as stray bits of snow landed and melted on the exposed skin. His eyes weren't focused on the action, peering unseeingly at the ice that was steadily accumulating on his pristine black boots. He didn't want to move, barely wanted to breathe, in the sheer stillness of the night. The quiet and peacefulness all around him filled him to the brink with a totally unnamable emotion and made his heart ache, but he didn't want to leave it and return to the mansion. He sat alone; at peace, and yet hurting. The bond of the zodiac had been broken – what in the world was his to have anymore?

A quiet giggle drifted like the sound of bells across the scene, piercing the fog of his distracted mind. Hatori looked up, searching for the source of the noise that had at once destroyed his reverie and torn him from his prison. A girl stood a ways off, by the trees on the other side of the park's sidewalk, her back to him. Her head was tossed back and her tongue reaching to catch the stray particles that drifted around her. In the soft light of the moon and the stars, Hatori could just see the flakes as they seemed to swirl and dance around her form. His breath caught in his throat.

Her short brown hair blew into her face as a sudden gust of wind brought snowflakes dancing in front of his eyes. He coughed a bit, every fiber of his being wanting to stand and go to the girl that couldn't possibly, in any way, be the love of his life, yet his frozen body resisting. Just like that, the illusion of peace was shattered. He had moved, he had made a sound, and everything was broken – she turned and looked him in the eye, her face blank.

Hatori could do nothing but stare back silently, his expression as lost as he felt at that moment. Those big brown doe eyes watching him without a hint of knowledge or memory; his heart snapped a little. He rubbed his numb hands together absently.

And then, she smiled softly. She took a few steps towards him, but she was a smart girl – she knew better than to go any nearer to a strange man in a frozen park at night. "Are you all right, sir?" she asked quietly. Hatori knew his eyes widened in horror at the sound of her beautiful, quiet, warm voice, as smooth and deep as those impenetrable eyes. He couldn't do anything, say a word or make a movement, but stare at her in shocked despair and pitiful, agonizing hope. Her smile faltered a bit.

"Are you all right?" she repeated, drawing closer. The sound of her snow boots were muffled by the snow she slipped through silently, her thick sweatpants preventing any sound as her legs brushed together. He watched her approach, caught in some dreamworld where his empty mind could only churn out the thought, _this can't be real._ She knelt in front of him, peering up into his face that was contorted by his memories of the very woman before him. His hands itched to reach out and hold her face, to pull it up to his lips, to remind himself of every contour of her features, to remember how it felt to feel her feathery brown hair tickle his cheeks. He stopped himself.

"It's kind of late to be out, don't you think?" she asked, trying out a smile once more.

"Don't you find that hypocritical?" The words were out before he could stop himself, his mouth automatically pulling out a response he might have used all those years ago. It twitched at the corners, begging to smile.

She looked surprised for half a second, but she quickly tossed her head back and laughed, and the dark night was filled once more with the tinkling sound of chimes. Something twisted in Hatori's chest, and not knowing what he did, he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the bench next to him. When he had realized what he had done, he looked away, pulling his hand back, waiting for her shouted reaction of suspicion or anger. When it didn't come, he looked back, his heart straining with empty hope that she might know him. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of her staring into the landscape before her, her eyes drinking in the sight of the white-sprinked evergreens and the silver ice-coated grass melting into the sparkling half-frozen river. Snow slipped in front of her eyes, stray flakes catching on her eyelashes and miraculously not melting, hovering like stars caught on her face. He stared.

"It is beautiful," she finally whispered. "I see why you were out here. I'm sorry if I disturbed your peace."

Hatori scoffed. "No," he said, and they sentence came unbidden, like he simply couldn't stop himself from replying to her. "It was a peace that needed disturbing anyway. When you get so caught up in the beauty of something it hurts to stare at it any longer…" he trailed off, and with a flash of painful lightning through his brain, a new thought occurred to him.

_God, Akito, whoever you are… is that why you took her away from me?_

He cast her a sidelong glance and rubbed his hands together. To his surprise, her smile was gone, and she nodded sadly. "Yeah… it's sure a bittersweet feeling. You want to have it forever, but you can't handle it anymore." She sighed heavily and closed her eyes briefly, only to open them and give Hatori a blinding smile that didn't quite reach her innocent eyes. "I should get home," she said. She giggled and said with a hint of embarrassment, "Don't stay out too long. You'll freeze in those clothes." She stood up, and he stood with her without any conscious thought.

"May I walk you home?"

Hatori stopped and swallowed, inwardly cursing his snow-addled brain as she watched him warily. "I'm sorry," he said after an awkward pause. "It must seem like I'm some creepy stranger trying to kidnap you or something…" He chuckled uneasily and looked at his feet, knowing his cheeks were flaming from the heat that hadn't been in them a moment before. To his shock, she merely slipped her arm around his and beamed.

"I would be honored. As long as you don't try anything, that is," she added good-humoredly. Her nose was pink from the cold, her fingers encased in knitted blue mittens. Numbly, he gave her a slow, warm smile, and started walking.

Twenty minutes later, they were in the heart of the city, standing before a tall and old-fashioned apartment building. The snowstorm hadn't let up, the flakes coming down harder than they had before and the moon hidden behind blackened clouds. No cars drove by, the empty street illuminated by a single street pole that radiated an almost forlorn golden glow. She slipped away from him and took a step towards the stairs, turning around to face him again just before she reached them. "Thank you for walking me home," she said sincerely. She shuffled a bit, but she had never been a shy girl, and she said unabashedly, "It's amazing that two strangers out to be alone found each other, don't you think?"

Hatori's heart skipped a beat and he said nothing. Kana merely tilted her head and peered at him, her smile fading as he looked up into the night sky, looked at the ground, looked anywhere but at her. He waited, the seconds dragging on in time with his excruciatingly slow heartbeat.

"You're not a stranger," she said suddenly, and the words fell from her mouth like icicles, like snowflakes, like heavy stones that clattered to the ground and shattered Hatori's breath. "I know you from somewhere…"

Hatori lifted a hand to his face and scrubbed his eyes, as though the words had broken the dam that had kept back all his self-control and held his emotions in place. "Kana." He couldn't stop the word from escaping his lips in a sob. His fingers trailed down his cheeks until he looked the beautiful woman in the eye. Her scarf was up around her neck, her heavy winter coat bundled around her. The melted snowflakes glittered on her eyelashes, her cheeks flushed pink with the cold. Her breath puffed from her mouth in frosty clouds visible in the cold night. She stared back.

"Ha… Hatori," she said slowly, as if she were rolling the name in her mouth. "Hatori. Yeah… I used to know you…" Her eyebrows screwed up in confusion, her short brown hair blown away from her face by a gentle breeze that rustled Hatori's suit from the back. "I can't… I can't remember anything."

"It was a long time ago," he whispered. He didn't bother to pause. "I used to love you."

The night was still and silent. The snow blew peacefully without making a single sound, falling between the two as they stared and wondered what had happened. His blunt words hung in the air.

"I think I recall that, actually," she replied. She shifted on her feet. Hatori rubbed his hands together.

"Kana-"

"Hatori-"

They looked at each other, and stopped. After a long second, Hatori stepped forward and wrapped an ice-cold hand around the back of her neck, slipping it under the curtain of her hair to tilt back her head. She shivered, whether in response to his freezing hand or his mere touch he didn't know, and closed her eyes, instinct and years of experience expecting the kiss as he leaned down.

Hatori's forehead tapped against hers, and his closed eyes let him feel the warm steam of her breath pool against his face and smell of peppermint, her breath fast and shallow at his touch. He breathed out slowly and memorized the feeling of her soft skin against his. With a single wish that Akito's magic really was rotting away, and she might remember everything with time, he planted a chaste kiss on the middle of her forehead.

He pulled away.

"Merry Christmas Kana. And thank you. I hope you don't regret the memories I've given back to you." His voice was warm, but it belied his sadness and regret.

He turned and started walking, his black boots leaving deep impressions in the snow that had piled up on the sidewalk. Bright multi-colored lights glittered from the windows he passed. The night was silent and still, the snow blowing around him and mixing with his tears to blur his vision of the cityscape before him.

"Hatori!" He almost turned at the broken cry behind him, almost ran back at the sound of quiet tears, almost broke down at the way she said his name.

But that was another time, another life. The river may have had a sheet of ice over it, but if kept flowing under the surface, kept moving on. The snow may have fell continually, softly and coldly and sweetly, but each flake hit the ground as alone as all the others mere atoms away. It was time to move on, time to melt the wall that separated him from the present. Knowing that she knew his name, knowing that she remembered him; that was enough.

He smiled to himself. He would never forget the image of her catching snowflakes on her tongue or watching him with her head cocked to the side. That was enough, too. It had been a chance meeting that had brought them together one more time, but he was sure that she had made every moment as perfect as possible in some accidental attempt to make him let her go.

"I loved you, Kana," he called, not daring to look over his shoulder. "That's enough."

A few minutes later, at the end of the street, he looked back. She was gone, and his footprints were the only thing that remained in the snow-covered street. He sighed and steam puffed against his face. _Bittersweet,_ he thought, and chuckled wryly. _You always had the right word._

He rubbed his hands together and walked home alone.

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><p>Happy Christmas Eve. I hope you enjoyed. My friend wants me to write more music for her - if I do, then I might write more one-shots inspired by the songs.<p>

Review please.

**I feel so grateful. **Especially this holiday, being able to say that "I loved you, that's enough," and have them believe me.


	23. Acceptance

**Words:** 810

**Characters: **Katsuya, Kyoko

**Time: **Pre-manga

**Genre:** Romance

**Disclaimer: **Takaya Natsuki owns everything.

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><p>Katsuya had a habit of walking her to the next class after his, under the pretense of escorting her to be sure she actually attended. Kyoko didn't know when it had started, but she enjoyed being in his company for as long as possible and didn't mention it when it slowly became an everyday occurrence. The easy banter they shared, the jokes and laughter and <em>acceptance <em>of everything she was and said made the awkward moment as he hovered in the doorway of Chemistry and she mumbled a goodbye worth it. Sometimes he would look over her head and nod at the teacher, a man a few years older than him with a fluffy mustache, wide smile, and easy laugh; to her horror, she would often find the chemistry teacher wink back suggestively, and if the stifled giggles were any indication she wasn't the only one. She would blush and find her seat quickly, burying her nose in her textbooks and trying to act like she'd done the homework.

So then, it was just a normal day as the two walked down the halls with many a snide comment and half-meant sarcastic jab at each other. She held her many books in her arms and her mask was still pulled up on her face stubbornly, her cloak billowing, because she wasn't going to be taken in and _reformed_ like some _rehab_ patient, _dammit, _and Katsuya had his hands stuffed into his pockets casually and glasses half-way down his nose. She snorted at something he said, which made him double over at her expression, and she turned up her nose in indignation at the gesture, both generally ignoring the stares the other students and teachers they passed sent their way.

She reached the door of chemistry mournfully quickly and, determined not to drag out the departure and knowing she would see him again in a few hours anyway, offered him a bare nod and turned away.

She was surprised as he caught her shoulders and pulled her into a quick hug, burying his face into her hair. She froze immediately as he nuzzled her head and seemed to breathe in.

"Uhh…. Katsuya… what the fucking hell are you doing?" she asked, and she congratulated herself for being calm and collected given the present situation.

He just tilted his nose against her temple. "Your hair smells good. Like watermelon… which is ironic, considering the color of your hair." She growled at his surprised tone and rolled her eyes.

"Well yeah, you asshole. Did you think I didn't wash it or somet- What the fucking goddamn _hell_ are you doing?"

He kissed the crown of her head again before pulling away, giving her an unabashed smile. "You just smelled so delicious; I had to see if you tasted that good."

She rolled her eyes, glad that her mask could cover the fiery blush that felt like it would burn her face to ash. "Well… you're not allowed to do that."

Katsuya raised one eyebrow regally. "Oh? And whyever not, little girl?"

She glared up at the name with wounded pride, temper flaring to life. She jabbed a finger into his cardigan-covered chest with each point, practically bulleted in the air between them. "One, because I said so, and I'm always right. Two, because I'm a girl, and I can tell you what not to do. And three, because you've been flirting with me for months and haven't asked me out, but still think you can kiss me? What kind of jerk are you? Honestly, I've never met anyon-"

He reached up and pulled down her mask, and his lips were warm against hers, the barest of touches that hovered on the edge of her nerves for a long moment. He finally pulled away, smirking. "Yeah, I kind of do. You tell me, Miss No-Eyebrows; do I really _need_ to ask you out?"

She chewed her lip absently if only to erase the mind-numbing feeling of the kiss. She looked away quickly and pulled the fabric over them again, the fabric comfortingly scratchy. "Not really," she finally muttered petulantly.

He beamed and ruffled her hair with an affectionate beam, making her scowl and try to smooth it down with the hand that wasn't holding her binders. He grinned devilishly at the motion. "That's my girl," he said fondly, and turned with a wave over his shoulder. "Be good now; I'll see you later today, right Kyoko?"

She stood frozen in the hall for a long second, until the bell shattered her from her reverie. Swearing, she ran the last few steps to the chemistry room and skidded to her seat before the tone had faded from the halls. Her teacher watched her from over his bushy mustache, and then slowly winked.

Groaning, Kyoko buried her head in her hands and tried to fall asleep.

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><p><strong>AN: **Random fluffy cuteness, because this story's gotten kinda heavy lately. Hope this makes you happy, **midnightandcounting.**

REVIEW!

**I feel so grateful!**


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